Sheikh Muhammad Nawawi Al-Bantni

Muhammed Nawawi bin Umar bin Arabi bin Ali al-Bantani, whose lineage goes back to Azmat Khan who was a descendant of Abdul Malik bin Alawi bin Muhammed Sahib Mirbat. He was born in the village of Tanara in the Banten district on the island of Java, Indonesia, in 1230 AH/1815. He was raised in an Islamic family. His father, Umar al-Hajj, served one of the Islamic institutes, and his mother, Zubeida, was a righteous woman. He is a descendant of Sultan Hasanuddin, the Sultan of Banten. 

He received his religious education from the age of five from his father, Umar al-Hajj, learning the Holy Quran, the Prophetic Hadiths, good character, grammar, morphology, and more. As a young man, he studied in the institute his father headed, and after about six years of study, he and his brother returned to their village. He then taught and tutored at the institute of his father, Kiahi Umar al-Hajj, for two years before continuing his studies in Makkah until he passed away there. 

In Makkah, he studied under its scholars until he excelled in Islamic sciences and delved deeply into them. He became one of the leading scholars, producing a great body of work. This is evidenced by the multitude of his varied compilations in creed, exegesis, jurisprudence, grammar, rhetoric, and tasawwuf, reaching close to a hundred books.

He passed away and was buried in the Ma'la cemetery in Makkah in 1316 AH.